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March 24, 2017 Updates

Thank you for attending our Evening Reception/Happy Hour this past Wednesday. It was great to see you there. The Tower Club provided a wonderful venue for our large gathering. For those who couldn't make it, there will be plenty more events to attend this year. One of ISOA's main goals is to provide our corporate members (and soon-to-be members!) with one event per month that enables you the professional interaction across the entire stability operations industry - including government officials and other company leaders. Another goal is to advocate on your behalf to help solve the difficult issues that your company faces overseas.

Regarding the ISOA Awards Program, I want to make a special note that the submission period to send in your award nomination has been extended to Friday, April 7. But, please try to submit your award nomination as soon as you can. Again, this is a simple and straightforward procedure. This will be a great chance to showcase your company to the world of stability operators. You may contact the following Awards Committee members for any questions you may have, Michelle Quinn, 202-344-9030, and Kelley Deconciliis, 202-680-9888. Please go to the ISOA website, www.stability-operations.org/awards, for all the information.

Importantly, the leaders from ISOA have been asked to participate, along with other professional associations, in the DoD Industry Day on April 28. This event is only for government leaders from the Pentagon and the State Department to meet with ISOA leaders and other leaders of professional associations in DC. We will be your representatives at this meeting. The principle topics will be that of government contracting in Afghanistan and Iraq, in particular, the tax issues in both countries. Please send to me, howielind@stability-operations.org, your concerns and inputs that we can address at this meeting.

For those who haven't renewed your membership for 2017 or signed up as new members, please do it now, so you can enjoy the many benefits of being a member of this great organization. Please visit our website, www.stability-operations.org, to fill out the on-line membership application.

CONTRACT AWARDS:

Lockheed Martin has received a potential five-year, $347 million contract from the General Services Administration to provide a range of technical, functional and managerial support services at the Defense Department's cybercrime center. The contract covers Defense Cyber Crime Center services such as leadership and staffing for the DoD Collaborative Information Sharing Environment, Defense Computer Forensics Laboratory, Defense Cyber Crime Institute and Defense Cyber Crime Center-Analytical Group, Lockheed said Thursday. The company added it will help the center investigate criminal and counterintelligence matters under the contract. Lockheed has provided digital and multimedia forensics examination, analysis, development, test and evaluation, information technology and cyber analytical and intelligence services to DC3 since 2012. DC3 offers cybersecurity support to the Department of Homeland Security, National Security Agency, FBI, Defense Security Service and U.S. Cyber Command.

INDUSTRY TRENDS

STATE DEPARTMENT'S GLOBAL ANTITERRORISM ASSISTANCE TRAINING SERVICE (GATA II) PROGRAM OUT FOR BID

The Department of State released the RFP for the Global Antiterrorism Assistance Training Service (GATA II) program on FedBizOps on March 13th. The proposals are due no later than 3:00 PM ET on April 12, 2017. An Award is anticipated to be made by the end of June 2017. The GATA II program will be an IDIQ with up to seven awardees. The Task Orders (TO) will be awarded for six (6) geographic regions and the worldwide Special Program Embassy Augmentation Response (SPEAR) program. DOS ATA assists foreign partners to develop the capability for antiterrorism planning and coordination and commitment to support US counterterrorism objectives. The program's geographic reach is extensive, having trained over 150,000 foreign police and civilian security officials in over 154 countries since inception in 1983. Country assistance plans are implemented through advanced training, technical assistance, and equipment grants including computers and software. Capacity building projects are tailored to the needs of each Partner Nation.

CONSTELLIS ENTERS INTO DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE CENTERRA GROUP

Constellis, a leading provider of operational support and risk management services, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Centerra Group, LLC ("Centerra") and its subsidiaries from an affiliate of Alvarez & Marsal Capital. The acquisition of Centerra, a leading global government and critical infrastructure services company, will significantly enhance Constellis' U.S. domestic presence and strengthen its relationships with key customers, including the U.S. Department of Energy and the United Nations. The transaction is conditioned on customary regulatory reviews and approvals, and is expected to close within the second quarter of 2017. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction brings together the industry's two premier safety and risk management providers serving a broad range of customers, including U.S. government agencies (notably the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Energy), foreign governments, NGOs and a diverse mix of blue-chip commercial entities. The transaction furthers Constellis' ongoing strategy of expanding its domestic presence serving well-funded customers with enduring requirements. Constellis will be able to leverage the combined entity's scale, vertical integration, training facilities, shared best practices and financial resources to strengthen its best-in-class risk mitigation service offering, utilizing the industry's most revered compliance programs.

Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, a retired Air Force general, has been appointed president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association in a move that will take effect in June. Carlisle will succeed Craig McKinley, who announced plans in August 2016 to retire after a two-year term as NDIA's president and CEO. Hawk is a seasoned leader who can drive the strategic dialogue that needs to continue between the defense community and industry to ensure our warfighters continue to have the best capabilities and best technology at their disposal," NDIA chair Sid Ashworth said in a statement released Thursday. Carlisle is a 39-year Air Force veteran who retired from military service early this month as commander of the Air Combat Command. He spent two years as executive director for the Pacific air combat operations staff, air component commander for the U.S. Pacific Command and chief of the Pacific air forces.

SENATE OKS RESOLUTION TO REVOKE FINAL RULE ON FEDERAL CONTRACTORS' LABOR LAW COMPLIANCE

The Senate has approved a resolution that would repeal a final rule designed to ensure federal contractors' compliance with labor laws. The Congressional Review Act resolution is now headed to the White House for President Donald Trump's signature and seeks to bar future administrations to implement policies similar to the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule. The rule has not been fully implemented due to a preliminary injunction ordered by a federal court in Texas. "The Statement of Administration Policy on the resolution stated the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces regulation would 'bog down federal procurement with unnecessary and burdensome processes,'" said David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council. The General Services Administration, Defense Department and NASA jointly introduced the final rule in August 2016 as an amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation in order to implement the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order.

The regulation was scheduled to take effect Oct. 25, 2016, and would require federal contractors that compete for more than $500,000 worth of contracts to reveal violations of 14 federal and state labor laws that happened in the past three years, according to Littler.com.

REGULATION

President Donald Trump intends to nominate Patrick Shanahan, Boeing senior vice president of supply chain and operations, as deputy secretary of defense. Trump announced plans to nominate Shanahan and five other individuals to various Defense Department posts in a White House press release published last Thursday. Shanahan currently oversees Boeing's manufacturing operations and supplier management programs, serves on the executive council and leads the company's environment, health and safety and intellectual property management groups.

President Donald Trump has proposed to Congress a $1.1 trillion budget for fiscal year 2018 and requested $30 billion in supplemental military funds for FY 2017, Defense News reported Thursday. Joe Gould writes the White House's FY 2018 budget plan would provide the Defense Department with $639 billion, which includes $574 billion for DoD's base requirements and $65 billion for overseas contingency operations. The request also proposed a 28 percent cut to the budget of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The FY 2017 supplemental funding request for the military seeks to authorize $5 billion in OCO budget and $24.9 billion in funds for DoD's base budget initiatives that include F-35s, F/A-18 Super Hornets, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, Army helicopters, DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and tactical missiles. The departments of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security will respectively see a funding increase of 6 percent and 7 percent under Trump's FY 2018 budget proposal, according to a report by Kim Soffen and Denise Lu for The Washington Post. VA would receive $78.9 billion in funds to update the agency's benefits claims system and expand medical services, while DHS would get $44.1 billion in budget for border protection and immigration enforcement programs that include the construction of a border wall and recruitment of 500 new border patrol employees. The administration's budget request only covers discretionary spending for FY 2018 and includes funding cuts to several agencies in addition to the State Department.